Download Astronomy 101 Section 4

Astronomy 101
Section 020
Lecture 1
John T. McGraw, Professor
Laurel Ladwig, Planetarium Manager
Introduction
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The syllabus
– The success of this class
depends upon your
success!
– Responsibility
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for assignments
to attend class
to prepare interesting,
educational lectures and
activities
to talk to someone when
something isn’t right
A Brief Tour of the Universe
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Our tour starts from our Earth, the only planet known to
harbor life.
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Earth and its moon are almost a “double planet.”
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Mars is a “rocky,” or terrestrial planet that once had
surface water.
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The sun and planets to scale. Is our multi-planet solar
system unique?
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Comets and asteroids also orbit the sun.
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The Sun, a normal star, is the heart of our solar
system.
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All of the stars we see at night are in our Milky Way
Galaxy.
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So are all the nebulae that mark star birth and star death.
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The Milky Way - self-portrait.
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The Milky Way - detail.
(with apologies to Gary Larson)
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Our tour continues with a visit to the nearest
galaxies - here the Large Magellanic Cloud.
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Many galaxies are spirals, similar to our Milky Way.
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The most numerous galaxies are ellipticals.
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We’ll visit galaxies in collision - or worse!
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Most galaxies tend to cluster - or even supercluster!
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A quasar (it’s the “star” on the right) - pretty boring
until you get close. But not too close!
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The most distant reaches of the universe are
populated by galaxies and quasars.
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Galaxies map the structure of the universe.
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The Earliest Observable Universe –
And Structure is Present
News of the universe!
… (make your own “clack, clack, clack” wire service sounds here)
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90% of the Universe is missing!
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We all know that the Universe is expanding –
but now it is accelerating!
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Particles from the center of the sun bombard
Earth – but what flavor are those particles?
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Stay tuned for more – much more!